Condensers are often connected to a low pressure exhaust of a steam turbine (1) to produce a vacuum or desired back pressure for improvement of the power cycle efficiency; and in some circumstances (2) to condense the turbine exhaust steam for possible reuse; and (3) to deaerate the condensate.
Traditional power generation facilities have employed coal, gas, natural gas, oil or other burnable materials as a source of power. In these systems, a quantity of water is turned to steam and passed through a turbine, condensed and reexposed to the heat source.
As the awareness of energy sources and their impact on the environment has increased, the demand for alternate power sources has risen. While geothermal steam can offer significant advantages for power generation, the steam may contain contaminants such as potentially harmful gases which are undesirable in the atmosphere. In fact, the introduction of some contaminants often found in geothermal steam are restricted by government regulation. Additionally, the removal of gases from the geothermal steam is beneficial to a reduction in the utility requirements for operating the power system.
Therefore, the need exists for a condenser for use with contaminated steam which provides for reduced emission of selected contaminants, thereby creating a residual gas mixture of substantially predetermined composition. The need also exists for a method of selecting such condensers to adequately remove the selected contaminants and produce a controllable condensate. A further need exists for subsequently treating the residual gas to absorb ammonia and carbon dioxide from the residual gas into the condensate.